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Met Police news

She said: "There is a lot of confusion online about what actually happened and many people have been painting us as criminals.

"We did nothing wrong. We just rode in a big group and thus the police have wasted valuable time and effort in judging us as criminals instead of fighting the real threat of bike thieves and acid attacks.

"Bikers from all over London came together to remember Eamon, going to his favourite places to ride.

"From the get go, we had police helicopters following us from place to place. This lasted for over four hours and, in turn, wasted a lot of fuel on their part."

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A police spokesman defended the decision to follow the bikers, and said: "The vigil was allowed to be held without any interference by police.

"Many of the bikes present were not displaying any index plate, which raised concern that stolen bikes may be present.

"As a result of this, two men were arrested on suspicion of riding stolen bikes and one man was arrested for possession of offensive weapons."

Despite the arrests and the fact police will have been wary of previous ride-outs in south London which have seen reckless riding often on stolen bikes, Ms Elgar doesn't believe such a big police operation was warranted.

A flyer, she added, had been circulated to ride-out attendees telling them to "please ride safe".

"We weren’t riding recklessly as there were many bikers around us so we were looking out for ourselves as much as other road users," she said.

Some of the bikers paying tribute to Eamon Karim (Image: Dee Kaskonaite)

"There were 30 to 40 police officers present along with a blockade [where the road was closed while they also had] stingers.

"Stingers are usually used in high-speed pursuits to burst a car's tyres and bring it safely to a halt.

"For police to bring out stingers on a motorcyclist, that causes a massive danger and the rider could lose control of their bike, ultimately getting hurt.

"They were checking everyone’s bikes to see if any were stolen, basically treating us like criminals."

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The police spokesman added: "The Metropolitan Police Service became aware of the intention of motorcyclists to hold a memorial ride-out on Sunday. [We] fully understood the solemnity of this event, which we respected.

"The ride was monitored due to previous incidents involving motorbike ride-outs.

"Unfortunately, on route to the memorial, the group stopped in a large public park (Crystal Palace Park), where many families and children were spending their Sunday and proceeded to carry out stunts and ride at speed within the park."

After the vigil 14 bikes were stopped by police.

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The spokesman added that as well as the arrests "a number of riders were reported for a variety of offences including no insurance, riding a bike in a dangerous condition and not displaying an index plate".

Ms Elgar insists the bikers weren't in Crystal Palace Park itself - but outside it - and says the police's response to the ride-out ruined the day.

She added: "All we wanted to do was have a peaceful ride to remember Eamon, but the police decided to use it to their benefit.

"It has insulted us immensely that this police operation [appeared to be pre-planned as they had arrived before anyone got to the meeting location.